Event to help LGBTQs 'Connect'

NEWS

by Seth Hemmelgarn

City officials and service providers in fields ranging from
housing to dentistry are encouraging LGBTQ people to attend an event offering services
they may be reluctant to seek out.

LGBTQ Connect is set for Monday, October 7 at the San
Francisco LGBT Community Center. Organizers hope to see people who don't always
know where to get help, or who fear they'll be shunned if they ask for it.

Pre-registration is encouraged but not required for the
event, which will also include services such as legal assistance and
sexually-transmitted infection testing.

Planners have been influenced by local statistics. In late
June, the biennial San Francisco Homeless Point-In-Time Count and Survey was
released and, for the first time, included statistics on LGBT people. The
report found that out of a total of 7,350 homeless people, more than one in
four (29 percent) identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or "other" for
a total of 2,132.

Bevan Dufty, a gay man who serves as director of Housing
Opportunity, Partnerships and Engagement for Mayor Ed Lee, was among those who
cited the survey when talking about the need for LGBTQ Connect.

The event is modeled after the city's ongoing Project
Homeless Connect, but the title's been altered because some people "have
difficulty defining themselves as homeless," said Dufty. That includes
people who are couch surfing or people who are worried about losing their rent-controlled
apartments.

"If you question the strength of your safety net,"
LGBTQ Connect is an appropriate venue, he said.

"Traditionally, there are not many LGBT service
agencies that have come" to Project Homeless Connect, and "having
this connect enables us to craft a day which is maybe more relevant for LGBTQ
persons," said Dufty.

Based on the homeless report's findings and estimates that
at least 94,234 LGBT people live in San Francisco, LGBT housing activists
estimate that 2.3 percent are homeless, compared to less than 1 percent for the
general population.

Brian Basinger, director of AIDS Housing Alliance/San
Francisco, who noted the disproportion, said, "The city historically has
not invested in homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing for LGBT people,
and it's that lack of investment that has caused these outrageous rates of
homelessness."

Basinger added, "There's a perception of discrimination
in city services, or a fear of discrimination. It doesn't matter whether
discrimination is happening or not. These are people's feelings, and those
feelings and fears are creating barriers to homelessness prevention work for
the community with the highest need. The system isn't working as it's currently
constructed."

Representatives from agencies that address complaints about
services, such as the city's Human Rights Commission, are among those expected
to be on hand at LGBTQ Connect.

Dufty said officials want to survey participants and have a
policy forum within weeks of the event to share insights. He said he hopes to have
"a discussion about ways in which the city may need to be more adroit at
how we're responding" to people's needs.

Varying needs

On a recent Sunday afternoon, Susan Tone, who's 60 and
identifies as bisexual, was outside the Walgreens on Castro Street trying to
collect change.

Tone has been homeless for about two years. She sometimes
sleeps in Golden Gate Park, and she'd like to see more affordable housing,
"and maybe more places that have clothing for people that are
homeless."

Tone, who gets foods stamps and has done babysitting and
other odd jobs, said she's gone to Project Homeless Connect and indicated an
interest in LGBTQ Connect.

Denny David, deputy director at Lavender Youth Recreation
and Information Center, one of the agencies helping pre-register people for the
October event, said about 35 percent of the youth his agency works with are
homeless or marginally housed.

One of the biggest needs youth have "is the chance to
connect with a compassionate staff member who deeply cares about that LGBTQ young
person and what they're experiencing, and listening to what their needs
are," said David.

LYRIC, which is based in the Castro neighborhood and will be
represented at LGBTQ Connect, offers services including helping people obtain
identification documents and assisting them with job searches.

Dr. Veronika Vazquez, a San Francisco dentist, will also be
at the event. Vazquez, who became involved after Dufty reached out to her,
said, "Service in general for me has always been a huge part of why I
became a dentist."

She said as a Hispanic female trying to succeed in a field
dominated by white men, "I can relate" to other people facing
discrimination.

"It's close to my heart," said Vazquez.

Basinger said that he didn't know how many events like this
there would be, but he said, "We're going to have as many LGBTQ Connects
as required to reduce LGBTQ homelessness by 50 percent in five years, whatever
it takes, and the city needs to marshal the resources to make that
happen."